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The Life of a U.S. Industrial Worker
By BirdBrain History
2016
This text asks students to imagine what it would be like to live as a worker, specifically as a child worker, in
the U.S. Industrial Revolution—a time of great technological progress though often at the cost of workers’
rights. As you read, take notes on the way the text is written—such as point of view, tone, and word
choice—and how this narration effects the overall meaning.
[1]
Imagine you’re ten years old. How do you spend
your day? Playing? Watching TV? Going to school?
Now imagine you’re ten years old after the
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Industrial Revolution in the late 1800’s with
factories booming all around you. Now how do
you spend your day? A LOT differently. You
probably have a job. You work in a factory
between ten and fourteen hours a day. The air is
filled with dust and smoke. Your fingers bleed
from working so much. What do you get for all of
this hard work? About fifty cents a day.
"The Life of a U.S. Industrial Worker" by BirdBrain History is used
with permission.
The Industrial Revolution was really good for some people. Poor children were not some of them. A
factory-owner’s job was to make as much stuff as quickly and cheaply as possible and then sell it as
quickly and for as much money as possible. Even though you’re ten, it’s your job to make things go
quickly. Here. Stand in this same place for twelve hours and screw tops onto as many bottles as you
can. Yes, it’s cold. Yes, the bottle caps hurt your hands. Yes, you’re standing in a puddle with holes in
your shoes. Also, you need to crawl into this giant machine when it brakes. Your boss doesn’t want to
hear any complaining, and if you do you might get whipped. Child labor is when young children work
in places that are unsafe and are paid less than adults. This was a way for businesses to find small
workers with lots of energy and quick fingers without paying them much… if at all. This was legal for
over a hundred years, until people decided it was not right to let young children work until they were
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older.
After a long, tiring day, your fingers are sore and you can barely feel your feet. You walk home. It’s very
close, but it isn’t much more comfortable than your work. In fact, it’s so close that you can still taste the
smoke that comes out of the factory. This is because the person who owns the factory also owns your
home. Company towns were small, towns built by factory owners for families who worked at the
factories to live in. It may seem nice of your boss build a place for you and your family, but he isn’t
doing it for you. The houses are dirty, cold, and filled with many other families and you pay rent to your
boss to live there. Also, you have no choice. You must live there if you work at the factory. You sleep in
a room with your mom, older brother, and younger sister. This means you and your family are stuck in
tough, low-paying jobs.
1.
2.
The Industrial Revolution was a period of technological change from about 1760 until 1840, when new machines
were being invented and introduced into factories.
In the United States, it is illegal for anyone under 14 to work a paying job. It took many years of protest and reform
before this became a law.
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A few minutes after you get home, your mom walks through the door. She works in the laundry down
the street, burning her hands with soap and breathing in bad chemicals all day. She is paid less than
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half of what the men earn… just because she’s a woman. She works even longer hours than you
because your dad has been gone so long you don’t remember what he looks like. At least your family
gets to eat a little. Minimum wage is the lowest amount of money a boss can legally pay each
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employee, but this wasn’t a law until over a hundred years after the first factories. Too bad it hasn’t
come along yet to help you and your family. Before minimum wage, when you live, factory owners
could pay what they wanted. And they want to pay you and your mom just enough to keep you alive.
The little money you have goes to food and rent. Even though your jobs are awful, it’s better than
nothing. So you and your family hold on to your jobs… and you struggle to stay healthy and alive.
[5]
Just as you and your mother are sitting down to stale bread and thin soup, your brother BURSTS
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through the door! “We’re going on strike!” he cries. He holds up his hand in a fist and you can see he’s
missing three fingers from the work accident a few months ago. There’s a light in his eyes you’ve never
seen before. “We’re going to start a union!” he says. Your mom tells you that a union is a collection of
workers who get together to protect their rights and demand better pay or better ways to work. “Until
they give us higher pay, all of the workers are going to walk out of their factories tomorrow! We will not
go back to work until they give us better pay!” At the thought of not working, your fingers start to
tingle…
If you were a child in the Industrial Revolution, you could have worked eighteen hour days in a very
hard job. Business owners used child labor because they didn’t have to pay them much and kids had
quick fingers. Women were not much better off, being paid much less than men. Before minimum
wage came along, giving families enough to feed and house themselves, people often lived in
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communal homes, which were dirty and cold and might have many families living in them. The only
thing workers could do was strike and make unions, working as a group for better pay and better
treatment. Tomorrow you get to walk out of your job with everyone else in order to ask your boss for
better pay… What will your boss do?
"The Life of a U.S. Industrial Worker", © 2016, . Reprinted with permission, all rights reserved.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Today, in the United States, there still exists what is called “the wage gap” between men and women. Typically, a
white female will earn 75% of what a white man does for the same job. Women of color are likely to earn even less to
the same white male workers.
Minimum wage in the United States was first established in 1938. The current national minimum wage in the U.S. is
.25, but it is higher in some cities and states around the country.
Strike (noun): a period of time when workers stop work in order to force an employer to agree to their demands
Communal (adjective): shared by all members of a community; for common use
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Text-Dependent Questions
Directions: For the following questions, choose the best answer or respond in complete sentences.
1.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the employers and
the workers in the text?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.
B.
C.
D.
3.
B.
C.
D.
B.
C.
D.
[RI.1]
“The air is filled with dust and smoke. Your fingers bleed from working so much.”
(Paragraph 1)
“In fact, it’s so close that you can still taste the smoke that comes out of the
factory.” (Paragraph 3)
“The houses are dirty, cold, and filled with many other families and you pay rent
to your boss to live there. Also, you have no choice.” (Paragraph 3)
“Just as you and your mother are sitting down to stale bread and thin soup, your
brother BURSTS through the door!” (Paragraph 5)
What is the overall effect of the last sentence of the passage?
A.
[RI.4]
The narrator describes the poor living/working conditions in their use of
imagery, and it creates a very bleak or depressing mood.
The narrator describes the pollution in the environment due to the factories,
contributing to the narrator’s judgmental or scolding tone.
The narrator describes the cold and cramped living quarters of the communal
housing, contributing to the passage’s meek, or shy, tone.
The narrator describes the terror of the factories and their looming, dangerous
machines, thus contributing to the scared tone of the passage.
PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?
A.
4.
Their relationship became more equal and fair with the introduction of better
technology.
Employers often took advantage of workers’ labor, pay, and living conditions to
benefit their business.
Some, though not all employers provided their employees with nearby housing
at affordable rates.
Workers often formed unions to force their bosses to make changes,
accidentally sending factory progress into decline.
PART A: Which of the following best explains how the narrator’s use of imagery
contributes to the tone of the passage?
A.
[RI.3]
[RI.5]
The final sentence of the passage ends the last day before the strike, suggesting
that the worker will definitely be fired after the strike.
The final sentence of the passage sets the reader up for a change, just as
workers were facing change in a new technical age.
The question at the end of the text shows that the worker was uncertain when
taking risks with unions and strikes.
The question at the end of the text emphasizes the workers’ confusion as to
what a union is and will accomplish.
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5.
What is the author’s likely purpose for writing the text from the point of view of the
narrator?
[RI.6]
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Discussion Questions
Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be prepared to
share your original ideas in a class discussion.
1.
Do you think child labor is still an issue today in the United States? In other countries?
2.
What else can be done to improve workers’ lives and working conditions?
3.
In the context of this informational text, how has America changed over time? How have the
conditions of American workers changed over time? Are there any ways or examples in
which these conditions have not changed or improved? Cite evidence from this text, your
own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
4.
The Industrial Revolution was one of the most important periods of technological
advancement in history. What were the costs and benefits of this technological change? Is it
accurate to call this “progress”? Cite evidence from this text, your own experience, and
other literature, art, or history in your answer.
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